Imagine the government of national unity (GNU), with all its representative parties, mobilising society around a common vision — not only to grow the economy and fix the state, but to deepen transformation in a meaningful way.
Imagine putting party colours and interests aside; instead of an elite pact to share the spoils of power through ministerial posts, the GNU becomes a true force for change in South Africa, building and consolidating politics at the centre of the spectrum.
All this is possible, but the time is short and the window of opportunity small, argues former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas.
We should be building an entrepreneurial class whose survival is not based on capturing institutions
— Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas
“We have an opportunity today ... when you’re reading the election outcome ... it is that [the electorate] has rejected both extremes. Whether this is sinking in in the minds of our leaders is something else,” Jonas, now chair of MTN, tells the FM.
Voters rejected the African nationalism of the ANC and the protection of white minority interests by the DA — and, he believes, both parties need to change. The ANC needs to shift from a “grants party” and begin building a black, innovative, entrepreneurial class which is not dependent on the state for survival, and the DA needs to transform itself. Neither party has captured the imagination of the black middle class, a powerful voting demographic.
“Black wealth in South Africa, at the moment, is a product of state action. And that’s what we need to break. Yes, the state creates the environment ... invests ... puts in all sorts of things to get it happening, but essentially, we should be building an entrepreneurial class whose survival is not based on capturing institutions.
“So that’s something that we need to break. That is where the conversation between the private sector and the government should go ... one that begins to think about more creative ways to do that. And again, a centrist [political] platform would be the easiest platform to be able to kind of navigate the complexities of that.”
Jonas was a key player in the fight against state capture under former president Jacob Zuma — he lifted the lid on the Guptas’ influence over Zuma when he revealed that the family had offered him R600m to take up the post of finance minister. He says Zuma was a symptom of a larger malaise in South African society, one which the GNU now has an opportunity to address. But it will take work.
He has long argued for a “reset” of politics to put South Africa on a more sustainable path, and the outcome of the 2024 election has provided the keenest opportunity for this.
It has created an “opportunity for building and consolidating more centrist politics ... The agenda of government should not be just growth and fixing the state. It should also be about transformation,” he says.
The GNU is less than five months old but has already experienced tension and division, particularly between the ANC and the DA. The hard work of making the government work has seemingly taken a back seat. The development of a medium-term programme for the GNU has been delayed — it was meant to be finalised ahead of the medium-term budget, but this will now happen only in January, according to the presidency.
A national dialogue, meant to bring society together in a Codesa-like arrangement to thrash out a way forward for South Africa and its many crises, will now also take place only in January.
Jonas tells the FM that the window for the GNU to effect real change is closing, as parties will once again retreat into their laagers for the 2026 local government election. The ANC’s 2027 conference could further destabilise things.
He warns that the danger posed by Zuma’s MK Party should not be underestimated or dismissed.
“It does occupy a vacuum. And at the moment, it could be a kind of chauvinistic ethnicism, it could be almost extreme radical politics, it could be conservative African nationalist politics ... because there’s a gap in the way people articulate where they are, those things have a place. So, I imagine that even if you remove personalities out of those things, they can find a life of their own,” Jonas says.
“The danger is that if the GNU doesn’t deliver, it becomes even worse ... MK’s appeal becomes bigger. So that’s the challenge we have.”
In the short term, the GNU has to be strong on what it represents. Importantly, it has to take society along with it.
“I think it’s thinking about what could be the programmes that would deal with growth on a more sustainable basis, where we deal with transformation and inequality as programmes that are visible and have an impact.”
Should the GNU rise to the occasion, South Africa could find itself on a new path, her second miracle. Failure will mean more of the same: decline and destruction.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.